Gate-closer.



No. 763,020 PATENTED JUNE- 21," 1904.- E. B. RHODES. I

GATE GLOSER.

APPLIGATIOR-I'IIVIYIED 00125, 1900. nmmwnn 0M. 8, 1903.

H0 KODEL;

UNTTED STATES Patented June 21, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

GATE-CLOSER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters IPatent No. 763,020, dated June21, 1904.

Application filed October 25, 1900. Renewed October 8, 1903. Serial No.176,312. (No model.)

To all whom, it'm/nq concern:

Be it known that I, EFFORD B. Rnonns, a citizen of the United States,residing at Anderson, in the county of Grimes, State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful-Improvements in Gate-Closers; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to gates in general, and more particularly to theclosers therefor, the object of the invention being to provide aconstruction wherein the gate when opened to a certain degree andreleased will automatically close and which when opened to its limit ofmovement will be held in such position.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in whichlike numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views,Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the gate in its closed position.Fig. 2 is a top plan view showing the gate in open position and theclosing apparatus set to close the gate. Fig. 3 is a top plan viewshowing the gate in wide-open position with the apparatus set to holdthe gate open.

Referring now to the drawings, 5 represents the hinge-post of a gateway,and 6 the latch-post, said posts being set any desired distance apartand having any suitable height and cross-sectional dimensions.

' To the hinge-post 5 is hinged a gate 7 through the medium of anydesired style of hinges, said gate being adapted to swing to lie withits outer edge against the latch-post 6 to close the gateway and whenopened to its limit to lie against the outer face of the hinge-post andin a plane parallel with the 'plane in which it lies when closed. Inorder to close the gate after it has been swung through an arc of lessthan ninety degrees, a bell-crank lever, comprising a shaft 10 and arms11 and 12, has its shaft portion rotatably-mounted upon the face of thehinge-post opposite to that face against which the gate lies when wideopen, the arms 11 and 12 being divergently disposed with reference toeach other, as shown, and the upper arm .12 being of such length thatwhen moved to a vertical position its upper end will project slightlyabove the upper end of the hingepost. This upper end of the-arm 12 hasan eye 13 formed therein, and with this eye is connected a link 14, theopposite end of which link is attached to a pin 15, engaged with theupper edge of the gate or secured thereto in any other suitable manner,thislink being of such length as to permit the gate to be swung throughan arc of one hundred and eighty degrees. The arm 12 has an oscillatorymovement in a vertical plane, as will be understood, and when the gateis opened through the first ninety degrees the arm moves toward thegatepost, while during the latter portion of ninety degrees of the swingit moves away from the gate-post. Thus if the gate be released before ithas moved through ninety degrees and the arm 11 be drawn downwardly thegate will be returned to its closed position. If the gate be notreleased until after it has passed through ninety degrees and the arm bedrawn downwardly, then the gate will be moved to the limit of itsoutward movement to assume the wide-open position and will be held insuch position. When the arm 12 moves to the vertical position, the arm11 rises, and when the arm 12 drops forwardly the arm 11 drops, and thusin order to effect a down-pull on the arm 11 at the proper times it isonly necessary to hang a weight thereon. For this purpose the arm 11 isprovided with a terminal hook 16, with which is engaged a swingingweight 17, which maintains a constant downward pull upon the arm 11.

To prevent excessive swinging open of the gate under ordinarycircumstances and which would insure the gate swinging to its limit whenreleased, the link 1a is of such length that it tends to stop the gatejust before it has moved through ninety degrees. The arm 12 suitablematerials and proportions may be used for the various parts withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is- The combination with a post of a gate hinged theretoand adapted to lie when open, against one face thereof, a bell-cranklever comprising a shaft portion journaled on the opposite face of thepost, said lever comprising also an upper arm and a lower armdivergently disposed with reference to each other and for movement invertical planes and the upper arm being adapted to project above thepost and being of spring material, alink connecting the upper end of theupper arm with the gate and of a length to place the arm of the leverunder tension at a point of the movement of the gate, and a weightpivoted to the lower arm and adapted to hold the arms in their loweredpositions.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

EFFORD B. RHODES. Witnesses:

(J. B. NICHOLS, CHAs. B. NICHOLS, Jr.

